my week via iPhone

 

the cutest pup around

< throwback from my wedding day, saying goodbye to ky at the reception

> my boss getting a lump of coal from santa for christmas

 

< the snuggles. i just can't get enough

> lights and snow in the trees at riverwoods

 

< sees candies toffee-ettes. my newest addiction, fueled by people bringing boxes of chocolates in our shop

> finally snapped a photo of the stockings (coop's is in the middle), and the shelf devin and i built!

 

< lounging by the tree

> lounging on his mama

bein' boys

A Very Merry Throwback Thursday

Miss this girl and the rest of her family! Merry Christmas from A-rae!

The 6th Date of Christmas

The 6th Date of Christmas was also spent in the company of awesome people. We celebrated 25 years of Josh Hancock. He and his wife Amy are some of our closest friends, and they just had a baby, Nolan, which has been quite the journey for them! Good news is, he's healthy and handsome as ever. I love that baby already and I haven't even met him! Nolan was taken to Primary Children's Hospital earlier that day so the doctors and specialists could run some tests. Pray for Nolan! He's a strong kid, though :) Anyway, we had some dinner at Tucano's, which I absolutely love to eat and absolutely hate paying for. Every time we go, I completely forget how to say no and end up with a giant pile of meat that I can't keep up with. It is so delicious though! When we were finished eating, we grabbed some hot chocolate (hello, 15 degrees) - and Devin and I snagged a dog bone for Cooper, of course. Then we headed to Josh and Amy's for awhile. It. Was. A. Blast. I forgot how much I love the Riverwoods at this time of year. When I worked at the Bath and Body Works down there 2 years ago, it was so fun to see everything going on and be a part of it - that was such a fun job! I miss it. Anyway... Christmas time. It's awesome. 

The 5th Date of Christmas

For the 5th Date of Christmas, Devin had to work late. Cooper and I hung out all night, and when Devin got home, we fell asleep to a Christmas episode of The Office. It's lame, but it's still a Christmas date! Plus, the Christmas episodes of The Office? Priceless. Those things are television-gold.

The 4th Date of Christmas

The 4th Date of Christmas was on Monday (i'm way behind. as usual). We spent it in the company of some of our very best friends, the Holdaway's, doing what we and the Holdaway's do best: classy dinner partying. They brought the caesar salad and Ryan made some homemade alfredo that was creamy perfection. Devin made his signature gnocchi (an exceptional batch, i might add). We included the traditional (and mine and danica's favorite) french bread dipped in olive oil / balsamic vinegar / herbs / spices, and had chocolate mousse cake for dessert. We even went a step further in classiness and had sparkling peach cider. It was a total success. And in true Katie fashion, by the time I remember I needed documentation of our date night, all that was left were dinner's remains. The puppies played on the floor the whole time, and we played a few rounds of bananagrams, until we all got sick of Ryan winning, and then we called it a night. One of the best CDP's ever! This date wasn't too christmas-y, but we were in the company of some of the coolest people we know, so it counts.

The Christmas Card

Here it is! Our official 2012 Christmas Card. I'm pretty sure everyone we mailed them out to should have them by now, but I wanted to share it here, too! Devin and I designed it ourselves, after I found a few different examples on pinterest that I loved. Devin was so patient with how picky I was being about the details and his illustrator skills are awesome! Not sure why it's sort of blurry - but oh well!  We sent a 5x7 card and a 4x6 picture to all our family and friends. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. Plus, we had fun! Merry Christmas! Love, The Ashby's :)

The 3rd Date of Christmas

Devin and I woke up sick this morning, so after a Walgreens run (of course, we had ZERO cold medicine in the house), we spent the entire day in bed. We finally got up around 3:30 and got some housework done. I made cookies and devin made dinner. While he was cooking, he asked for the 700th time if I wanted to try and see if I could find a Christmas movie on hulu plus or netflix for us to watch (since we don't have cable), so I finally let him open a christmas present early, which was a bunch of our favorite christmas movies. We ended the night with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (just like last year). Such a classic.